


Too Close, But Still Here

by karebear119



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Attempted Murder, Fili to the rescue, Hurt Kíli, Kili whump, Mugging, Strangulation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-15
Updated: 2014-08-17
Packaged: 2018-02-13 07:53:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2143029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/karebear119/pseuds/karebear119
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post BOFA....Fili and Kili live but Thorin dies.  Fili is King Under the Mountain.  </p><p>Kili sneaks out of the mountain by himself to go hunting and gets attacked in Dale.  He thinks it was just a mugging, but could it be a part of something much bigger?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Sneaking out

**Author's Note:**

> Fili's wife is named Ranna (got that name off the Dwarven Name Generator)and has a couple of kids. Kili is married to Tani, who is a healer lass, and they have no kids yet.

******************************************************

Kili awakes to Tani’s scream as she is forcefully hauled from their bed. He shoots upright and begins to turn to reach for his weapon next to the bed before there is a pressure at his throat, choking his air as he is also dragged from their bed. His wife screams his name when his legs are kicked out from under him and he drops to his knees placing greater pressure around his neck. Due to this position his head is forced up and his back arched. His air is cut off and one hand claws at the rope around his throat while the other tries to grip at one of the arms of his captor behind him. Already his vision is beginning to dim around the edges and he looks to Tani and the dwarf holding her to him with an arm around her waist and a hand over her mouth, silencing her screams. He recognizes the dwarf holding her and as his vision begins to dim farther, his mind shoots back to the events of that morning and can’t help thinking that maybe his brother was right. 

*****************************************************

It’s still early morning when Kili slips out of his room that he shares with his wife and quietly sneaks out of the family quarters, trying to avoid waking Fili, his wife or any of their kids. If any of them hear him, then he’ll never get out of there alone. Kili has been feeling cooped up in the last few weeks, unable to leave the mountain after Fili unofficially put them all on lockdown after the deaths of two of their soldiers out on patrol in the woods. The culprits were not caught and they had no leads as to the reason for the deaths. Kili hadn’t been allowed to go out hunting without an armed escort and always came back empty handed due to the heavy-footed tendencies of said guards. 

Kili knows that his brother is just being cautious but Kili is fairly confident in his skills and ability to take care of himself. Besides, Kili thinks to himself as he saddles up his pony and turns her towards the woods, he’ll only be gone for a couple of hours. What could possibly happen?

\------------------------------------------------------------------

By midmorning, Kili has managed to shoot a few nice, fat rabbits and several wild turkeys that he knows will fetch a decent price in the markets of Dale. Kili tends to hunt more for the sport and calming effect he gets from the quiet of the woods. When he is able to get a good catch, he takes it to the butcher in town to sell and then donates the money to the poor in Dale. Dale is thriving but there are still those who have fallen on hard times and Kili is only too willing to help where he can. He steers his pony towards town, hoping to make a good trade and he had also brought gold along to buy something nice for his wife. A caravan had recently come through Dale and had brought a new shipment of fabrics from all over Middle Earth. He leaves his pony at the town stables near the market along with his bow, but keeps his sword sheathed at his hip. After all, Kili isn’t reckless enough to go around unarmed. Kili mills about the market and makes a good trade with the butcher before dropping that money along with more of his own at the church where he knows it will be used to help those in the town that are struggling. He then takes his time browsing around the fabric stands, not in any hurry to return to the mountain to face Fili’s wrath. He knows that his brother will give him an earful along with his wife, but he’s hoping his gift will soothe her burning temper at least. If only Fili were as easy to assuage. 

After making his purchase and stowing it in his satchel, Kili sighs to himself and heads on his way back through town towards the stables. He has to go back eventually, he admits to himself. Kili is musing to himself on how to alleviate his brother’s imminent lecture when he’s grabbed by the neck of his jerkin, the suddenness throwing him off balance. Using this, his attacker pulls him into the alleyway and he is slammed face first into the brick. The breath is knocked out of him and he can feel the sharp sting of a knife pressed into the small of his back. The pressure is hard and Kili can feel the knife break his skin after it's tip slices right through his clothes attesting to the blades lethal sharpness. 

The person behind him doesn’t say anything, just uses the knife at his back to hold him against the wall as he begins searching him with his free hand. Kili catches a glimpse of a braided beard out of the corner of his eye. Dwarves?? Just then the dwarf searching him finds his sword and quickly unsheathes it and throws it behind him. Kili can hear it clang against the brick before it’s picked up by another dwarf behind them. The dwarf continues to search him for weapons and tosses his hunting knife as well before Kili makes a decision to not wait around to see what they’ll do now that they’ve disarmed him. 

Moving quickly, Kili throws back his elbow and lands a hard blow to the dwarfs head while spinning to grab the arm pressing the knife at his back. As he turns, he can feel the blade tear a line across his side but he gains the knife with a quick twist of the dwarf’s arm. Once Kili is armed, he faces his attackers in a defensive stance. There are four dwarves in the alley besides himself and he quickly deduces that he is definitely outmatched. They are still armed and he, only with a knife. But Kili, Son of Durin, won’t go down without a fight. Two of the dwarves make the first move.


	2. Fili to the Rescue

Fili was just arriving in Dale, along with his royal guard and Dwalin (who had insisted on coming along), on his way to a meeting with Dale’s King, when he recognized his brother’s pony in the stables with Kili’s bow still slung across the saddle. He had briefly searched for his brother that morning and after asking around, discovered that his brother had left early that morning armed with his bow and had headed towards the woods…..alone. Fili knew that Kili had been getting antsy being stuck inside the mountain and even though he was angry with his brother for leaving without telling anyone or taking a guard, he couldn’t really blame Kili for wanting to escape for just a little while. 

Fili assumes that Kili must be somewhere in the market and since he has a little time before he is due for the meeting, he decides to see if he can track down his brother. He is a block or so away yet when he hears the clash of steel and cursing coming from an alley way ahead. It’s when he hears a loud shout, one that sounds suspiciously like Kili, that he draws one of his swords and with Dwalin right behind him, cautiously approaches the alley. 

\--------------------------------------------

Kili had actually been fairing well, dodging blows and weapons and even landing a few hits of his own. He’d managed to knock out one dwarf and was down to three opponents. He may lack the solid build of other dwarves but he makes up for it in the speed with which he moves and the quickness of his strikes. He had just managed to take out a second of the dwarves while fending off a third, when a blow to the side of his ribs from the long handle of an ax wielded by the fourth knocked the breath out of him and he lost his hold on the third dwarf. The second blow slammed his back into the wall and Kili has to struggle to draw breath into his lungs. He’s sure that last hit cracked some ribs. 

Before he is able to gather himself back, the dwarf is in front of him knocking his one weapon from his hand and then landing first one punch and then a second to his face. The blows to his head leave him dizzy and there is a cut on his forehead that is trickling blood down his face, blinding him in one eye and Kili can feel the blood running down his back from a deep cut across his left shoulder where he was barely able to dodge a knife aimed at his neck. Kili blocks a third hit and shoves the other dwarf back hard with a boot to his chest. Finally able to gain a little bit of ground under his feet, Kili lets out a loud battle cry and launches himself after the dwarf, determined to land some hits of his own. He tackles him to the ground and lands a few solid punches before a handful of his loose dark hair is grasped and he is thrown backwards onto his back. He huffs out a breath when he lands before he is pinned and then the blows begin again. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------

As Fili turns the corner of the alleyway, he can see two dwarves already unconscious on the ground before his eyes move further down the alley and spot one dwarf on the ground pinned by another that is relentlessly throwing punches while another stands by watching and fingering a long, sharp blade. Fili then recognizes his brother’s tunic as the dwarf pinned to the ground. 

“HEY!!!!” He shouts out ferociously. 

When he sees Fili running towards them with his sword drawn, the dwarf standing by grabs his comrade by the tunic, pulling him off of Kili, and they go running off down the alley in the other direction. A couple of Fili’s guards run after them but they are too late and the two dwarves disappear into the crowd of the market. 

Fili runs to his brother’s side, who has managed to roll over onto his stomach and is spitting out a mouthful of blood into the dirt. Kili is panting and moaning holding one arm tight over his ribs. Underneath the blood on Kili’s face, the bruising is beginning to show and Fili can tell that one side of his face will be a nice deep purple when it’s done. 

“Kili…….Kili are you alright? Is anything broken?”

Kili is barely able to tip his head up far enough to see his brother’s face through his blurry vision. He’s still struggling to catch his breath back and his head is pounding harder than the forges at peak working hours. 

“Maybe….some ribs.” Kili huffs out to his brother. “But I’ll be……alright…..Just need to get…..my breath back.”

“Damnit Kili, I told you not to leave the mountain without an escort. Why don’t you ever listen to me?”

Kili stops trying to pick himself up and just flops to his stomach on the ground, resting his forehead on his spare arm, as the other is still clutching at his ribs. Damn, his head hurts.

“Kili?!”

“I can’t hunt with those damn guards stomping around after me.”

“Kili, it’s for your own safety. Look at yourself!” 

“Aw, come on Fili, those were just thieves thinking I was an easy target.” Kili chuckles as he spits out another mouthful of blood. “Boy, were they ever wrong.” 

“Yeah, brother, you really had them on the run” teases Fili with a smirk on his face. 

“It was 4 on 1 in case you hadn’t noticed” responds Kili as he once again tries to push himself up from the ground. 

Fili finally relents to his brother’s suffering and grabs one of Kili’s arms, helping him to his feet. 

“Come on, oh warrior brother of mine, let’s get you back to the mountain.”

Kili grudgingly accepts Fili’s help climbing to his feet as his entire body protests the movement. Fili orders one of his guards to get his pony for them to ride back on while Kili tries to stand on his own but the pain in his ribs flares white hot when he tries to straighten up. Fili slips an arm around his waist gripping his belt and uses the other hand to grip his upper arm.

“Fili, I can ride on my own pony.” 

“You can barely stand on your own feet. How can I trust you to stay on your pony?”

Before Kili can argue any farther, the guard returns leading Fili’s pony. Fili quickly boosts himself up and when Kili again tries to protest, Dwalin pushes him towards the pony before boosting him up in front of Fili. Kili tries to breathe deep through the dizziness that came with the quick change of position and takes the opportunity to relax against Fili’s chest and let some pressure off of his ribs. Fili sends a guard to the King of Dale telling him what happened and that they will have to reschedule. He then sends another guard ahead to ready the healers and have them meet them at the gate before riding off with the rest of his guards and Dwalin, in formation around them. 

Kili can’t tolerate anything rougher than the slow walk of the pony and it takes them a while before they are arriving at the main gate. Kili takes one look at the gate before grumbling to himself in Khuzdul and when Fili looks to the gate he can't help but smirk when he realizes why. 

Kili’s wife, Tani, is a healer, which is actually how she and Kili first met. Kili had been sparring with Fili when he had been distracted by a ruckus across the field and had forgotten to block the strike Fili was aiming for his head. The result had been a mild concussion and Kili meeting the love of his life. Fili hadn’t protested their courtship in the least. She was a lovely lass with a great sense of humor and besides, with brothers like Fili and Kili, it can never hurt to have a healer in the family. 

Tani is waiting at the gate with the other healers, with a stern look on her face and her arms crossed over her chest. She must have been on duty in the healer’s hall when Fili’s guard had arrived. She was not told what had happened only that someone was wounded and the healers were needed to meet the King at the gate. Kili knows that he must look a mess with blood all over his swollen face and covering his tunic. And the fact that he is seated on his brother’s mount doesn’t make his situation look any less serious. As soon as they come through the gate, she pounces on them. 

“Kili! Are you alright?! What in Mahal’s name happened?!” 

Before Kili can come up with a suitable story to make the situation sound less dire, Fili cuts him off, 

“He left the mountain without a guard and he was attacked in Dale. He thinks they were trying to mug him.”

Tani lets out an exasperated sigh and turns around to start digging through her healer’s satchel. Kili knows from the look she just shot him, that he has not heard the end of this discussion and moans to himself. Then Dwalin is there helping to ease him off the horse and Kili is beginning to feel more of his aches and pains from the beating settling in. Dwalin keeps an arm around him which is lucky because as soon as he is on solid ground, he is hit with a dizzy spell that would have ended up with him on the floor had Dwalin not caught and stabilized him. 

“Steady on there, laddie. Breathe deep and get your feet back under ya.” 

The other healers come forward with a stretcher and Kili tries to protest, stating that he is more than capable of walking. But after he stumbles over his own feet, causing him to let out a yelp as his ribs are sharply jarred, Dwalin and Fili both force him onto his back on the stretcher and he is whisked off to the Healer’s hall.


	3. All That Matters

Sometime later, Fili strides through the doors of the healers hall and is escorted to the alcove where his brother is being cared for. Kili is seated on the edge of a bed leaning over on a small table in front of him while his ribs are tightly bandaged. Kili looks up at him and then grimaces as the last of the bandage is knotted in place. 

“So what’s the damage?”

Fili can see the bruising on his brother’s torso as well as the cut across his shoulder that has stopped bleeding but has yet to be cleaned and bandaged. There is a clean white bandage around his head with the telltale signs of a healers balm to protect against infection in the cut above his eye and the white cloth stands out sharply against the dark brown of his brother’s hair and the purple bruising that has bloomed nicely along Kili’s jaw and cheekbone. 

“I’ll be alright brother, a couple of broken ribs and a few bruises,” Kili reassures him. “I’ll be good as new after a good night’s sleep.” 

“That may be, but I’m excusing you from your duties for the next couple of days so you can heal up properly. And no more leaving the mountain without a guard. Take Vir and Tari from the scouting group with you next time you want to hunt. You know they know how to track and move quietly. And after all, Tari is your brother-in-law, so I know he’ll keep a close eye on you for the sake of his sister.” 

Kili looks to the floor and grits his teeth, cursing under his breath, as the healer wipes at the cut on his shoulder with something that stings like bees. Fili walks closer and cups his brother’s face in his hands and gently lifts his head to meet his eyes. Fili rests his forehead against his brother’s and quietly whispers,

“I can’t do this without you, brother. I need you to be safe.” 

At this statement, Kili drops his eyes as he nods his head and raises his hand to his brother’s shoulder before placing a kiss to his brother’s forehead. 

“I understand Fee. I will do as you ask.”

“Thank you, Kee.”

************************************************************  
It was evening before Kili was released from the Healer’s Hall. Fili had sent him back to the family quarters with Tani and had ordered their supper to be delivered to them there. Fili left Tani to settle Kili in and then went to join his wife and kids in the private family dining hall for supper. It was late before Fili was able to make his way to the holding cells. After the attack on his brother in the alley, Fili had had the two dwarves that Kili had managed to knock unconscious, arrested and brought to the mountain for questioning. He wanted to know if it was indeed, just a mugging like Kili had thought, or if there was something more serious behind all of this. 

As he rounded the corner, he almost ran directly into Kili’s second-in-command who was rushing the other direction.

“Sire! I was just coming to find you. We’ve disturbing news!” 

The guard quickly filled Fili in on what they had discovered, courtesy of the two dwarves currently in the cells. The two dwarves had remained silent for the majority of the day, only deciding to talk long after the sun had gone down. It seemed that they were part of a rogue group of dwarves that had a history with the line of Durin back when Thorin had been in charge in Ered Luin. It seems that the dwarves were all brothers and their father had been a merchant who had come to Ered Luin selling metal-worked pots, forge tools and other wares. He had knowingly sold faulty smelting pots to a couple of the forges in town and the use of them had caused serious injuries to the employees. When confronted about the problem when the families of the injured dwarves demanded compensation, the dwarf in question had flown into a rage over the sake of his besmirched honor. He had refused to pay and has thusly been arrested by Thorin. He later had contracted an illness and had died while still in custody leaving his five sons to fend for themselves. The sons had refused help from the villagers to help them get through the winter and as a result their youngest brother had also died of illness. These dwarves had taken it upon themselves to see that the punishment for what they believed was a prejudice and wrongful arrested their father and the resultant deaths, was passed down to the rest of the line of Durin. But Fili, being the King was a most difficult target to get close to, so they had gone for the next best thing…..Kili. 

The dwarves behind bars smirked when they saw the King approach their cell. 

“Where are your other brothers? The two who were with you in Dale. Answer me and I will spare your lives.”

“They are very near,” the one of the dwarves chuckled. “They will finish the job that we started,” the dwarf finished laughing at the look on Fili’s face before spitting on the ground at Fili’s feet.  
“The line of Durin is about to become shorter!” the second dwarf finished before they both broke out in manic laughter. 

Surely these dwarves are insane, Fili thought to himself before the full force of the dwarf’s words hit him. They’re going after Kili again! Fili immediately spun on his heel and sprinted back towards the family quarters with a couple of his brother’s most trusted captains behind him. Kili was still in danger! 

Fili slows as he approaches the door to the main room of the family quarters. He eases open the door and spies the slightly open balcony door and the four dead royal guards on the ground. One of the guards with him stops him with a hand and enters the room first, slowly. Fili fingers the throwing knives at the small of his back as well as the ones in their sheathes in his bracers. They don’t know where the other two dwarf brothers are in there or if they had found others to help them with their nefarious plans. Fili hears the scream coming from his brother’s chambers and recognizes it as Tani. He then pushes past the guards and runs to where he sees the door to Kili and Tani’s private chambers is slightly ajar and the sounds of a scuffle come from within. 

With a knife in each hand, Fili bursts through the doors and with a quick look around the room throws a knife into the dwarf holding his sister-in-law. But the second dwarf took that split second and hauled Kili up in front of him by his neck and is now hiding behind the struggling body of his brother. Kili is weakening and this dwarf is the only thing holding him up, keeping him from collapsing to the floor by the dark rope around his throat. But it is the glint of a knife in one of the hands that is wrapped around the rope that stays Fili’s second throw. He knows he will have to kill with the first attempt or the dwarf will use the knife in his hand to end the life of his brother. The dwarf then attempts to edge closer to the door, dragging Kili with him. Fili can see that he is using Kili as a shield until he can get close enough to the door to escape. 

“Would you risk your brother with your throw, Son of Durin?” the dwarf taunts in a deep growl. “Make your choice fast for his time is running out quickly.”

Fili can see his brother’s mouth gasping for breaths he is unable to take and the blue tinge to his lips in the light of the evening fire in the hearth. Blood is welling up in the white of one of Kili’s eyes, indicating he is close to strangulation. The dwarf is just steps from the door and as a smirk crosses the strange dwarf’s face, Fili flicks his wrist and lets his second knife fly. It catches the dwarf directly in his eye, killing him instantly and both figures slump to the floor. 

Fili springs forward and scoops up his brother with one arm while unwrapping the rope with the other. Kili is attempting to draw in breaths, gasping and coughing with tears running down his cheeks. Fili tries to calm his brother and tilts his head back over his arm to open his airway. Kili is grasping at Fili’s tunic as he tries to force air through his abused airway and past the pain of his broken ribs. Fili murmurs to his brother and breathes deeply, encouraging his brother to do the same along with him. 

Kili’s heart is pumping so fast it feels it will beat right out of his chest as it frantically tries to circulate the sweet oxygen he is finally able to drag in. Each breath that scrapes through his throat seems to light his lungs on fire but he keeps trying to breathe with his brother. Finally, his body seems to have realized it is out of danger and as the adrenaline wears off, Kili’s eyes roll back in his head and he passes out in his brother’s arms. 

Fili’s heart jumps in his chest when Kili’s eyes roll back and he goes limp but Fili can still hear the shallow breaths wheezing in and out of his brother’s lungs which comforts him that his brother still lives. Allowing her healer's training to take over, Tani jumps into action out of the arms of one of the guards trying to check her over for injuries. She grabs a handkerchief from a small table next to their bed and runs out the door. She returns with a small amount of snow wrapped in the small cloth which she had collected from out on the balcony and places it to the darkening bruise surrounding Kili’s throat. 

“It will help keep the airway from swelling further and ease his breathing.” 

Fili orders one of the guards to fetch the healers and to have other guards sweep the family quarters to make sure there are no more intruders hiding anywhere. He orders another to check on the guards protecting his wife and children on the other end of the family quarters. 

“Kili, love, open your eyes,” Tani orders, tapping her fingers against Kili’s unbruised cheek. Kili remains still in his brother’s arms. It’s not long before the healers come rushing in and gently but quickly push Fili out of the way before loading Kili on to the stretcher for the second time that day and rushing him away. As they disappear out the door with Kili, Tani lets out a sob, the fright and emotions of almost watching Kili die, catching up with her. Fili gathers Tani in his arms and gives her a hug, holding her to him. 

“He’ll be okay. He’s strong,” He hushes her, rubbing circles on her back while she cries. Soon, Fili’s wife, Ranna, rushes into the room. She had been awakened when the guards had entered their chambers, searching the room. Fili quickly explains what happened and leaves Tani with Ranna before rushing after the healers. 

After a while he is allowed in to see his brother. Kili is lying on a bed, still unconscious. The dark purple bruising around his throat looks worse and just looking at it makes Fili’s throat hurt. Fili can still hear the wheezing in his brother’s breathing but at least Kili is still breathing. An apprentice comes through just then to replace the snow pack on his brother’s neck to try to reduce the swelling farther, before leaving again. Fili pulls up a chair close to Kili’s bed and grasps one of his brother’s limp hands. He has no plans to move from this spot until Kili wakes up. 

It’s near dawn and Fili is dozing with his head resting on Kili’s bed, before Kili finally stirs, coughing and groaning as he regains consciousness. Fili wakens immediately from his doze and watches as his brother’s eyes slowly flicker open. The white of Kili’s left eye is still red and bloody. As if the dark marks around his throat weren’t enough to remind Fili just how close to death his brother had come. 

“Alright there, Kee?” Fili asks, squeezing Kili’s hand once more. He is relieved when Kili squeezes his hand back. 

“That was too close, Kili.” Fili tells his brother as he rubs a hand over his face before raking it back through his golden hair. 

“Still here,” Kili barely manages to whisper. The words burn his throat and a hoarse cough follows the words out of his throat. He quietly thinks to himself that maybe talking isn’t such a good idea right now. Fili holds a cup of cool water to his lips and he gratefully manages a couple of sips. Swallowing also does not feel so wonderful and he reaches up a hand to rub at his tender throat. Slowly he rolls his head on his pillow to meet his brother’s eyes and has to ask one more question. 

“Tani?”

“She’s fine, brother. Worried to death about you but physically, she’s fine.”

Kili nods his head to Fili’s answer and then closes his eyes again, exhaustion taking over his mind once more. The guards assured Fili that the family rooms had been completely searched and they had come up with nothing else. After learning of their brothers’ deaths, the two remaining dwarves in custody had admitted that there were no others. Be that as it may, Fili was still taking precautions to further secure the family quarters, just in case. The section of the mountain where the Royal Family lived had been very secure to begin with. It was only after a thorough search that they determined that the dwarves had to have made the dangerous and complicated climb that brought them to the secluded balcony. Fili still wasn’t sure how they had gotten up the sheer cliff face but he was determined that it would not happen again. But at least for now, his brother was alive and his family was safe. And that was all he really needed.

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first fanfiction story posted on this website. Let me know how I did and if you want to read more.


End file.
